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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

This and That

Have you ever wanted to ask a Nobel Laureate a question? Now, here's your chance! Ask a Nobel Laureate is offering you a unique opportunity to communicate with some of the world´s most brilliant minds. The current participating Nobel Laureate is Albert Fert, Nobel Prize in Physics 2007 "for the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance", which forms the basis of the memory storage system found in your computer.

Discovery that pituitary tumors expel lines of force is fashionably interdisciplinary. However, submission rules may exclude the blind, and that seems overly harsh. Perhaps criteria should be relaxed to include flip books and Labanotation.

(Giant magnetoresistance is a hard drive's read head, not its storage or write modalities.)

Uncle Al, thanks for teaching me my new "word of the day": "Labanotation," for "Laban Movement Analysis" which is "a tool by dancers, athletes, physical and occupational therapists, it is one of the most widely used systems of human movement analysis"

Great. But considering this is a Quantum Gravity website, can we see some views of yours to that end, as opposed to the macroscopic?

I saw the announcement via Jorge Pullin (Ilqgs mailing list), where he wrote (March 4, 2010):

>> Sorry for using this email list for this, but there are two faculty>> job openings at LSU in loop quantum gravity. These are tenure-track>> positions. Due to budget restrictions, the application deadline is>> relatively soon. Applications can only be accepted online at this>> website:>>>> https://lsusystemcareers.lsu.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=51804>>

I suppose the deadline was already met, since I cannot see the announcement in the page mentioned.

Since I was replying to "This and That" where it was requested that Youtube videos be submitted so that a Nobel Laurette could possibly answer the question asked in the Youtube video and since the gist of my reply was that I did not have the technology to post a Youtube video so "here is my submission in writing", how is that posting something that is off topic?

It might have escaped your attention but I'm not Albert Fert. Your two lengthy comments were nothing else but an elaboration on your theory of whatever and probably copy-and-pasted from elsewhere. I'm not even remotely interested in that. I'm not hosting such comments. Please advertise your theory elsewhere. Best,

Theorem: if you are able to have an interesting conversation with yourself on a topic it means as far as that topic goes, you are not ideologically committed to a position, that you are open to new ideas and that you are creative.

Indeed, the fact that Dr Albert Fert was awarded the Nobel Prize in place of the first author of the original article may be shocking... There are however some points I would like to lay here down as to explain why I find it fair anyway:

(1) Even if not directly awarded the Prize, those related to Fert's work are irremediably given great carreer opportunies and treats thanks to this connection. I guess now no one dare say Dr Baibich is a crackpot, or say anything else rude about him.

(2) The "reason why" claimed by the Nobel Prize committee as to explain why someone is awarded the Prize is, as far as I can think, more an anti-polemic statement rather than a deep reason why. The Nobel Prize crowns an entire career, which anyhow cannot be summarized in one paper. And being the successful head of a research team is something difficult to become anyway. I know research bosses seem to not do that much once they have given their recommendations, but the fact is, the whole system which allows you to discover something essential was installed by them before, and the last to come has it difficult to gauge how hard they worked to make the thing come together and efficiently run.

(3) The Nobel Prize is an old stuff, which means it still regards scientists as lonesome cowboys in the desert of knowledge having found an oasis. We all know it has changed, but Alfred Nobel's didn't know it when he wrote his last will. I guess it should be awarded to the whole team... But we are still living in a world in which the glory of ONE single individual is worth dozens of forgotten ones.

Why not creating another prize aimed at awarding teams? Would be nice, wouldn't it?

Just a recommendation before you try anything with Dr Albert Fert: scientists literally hate people who don't take care of rules and recommendations. And just don't try to bother him with your theory; without knowing him personnally, I already know he will not care about it.

The Louisiana State University has two openings for faculty positions in loop quantum gravity.

I've long felt for the sad employment situation for Ph.D.'s in Math and Science in America. How many applications will that job get, Bee, hmm?

At Woit's blog I read something I couldn't believe by a poster, that there are only 8-9 tenure-track faculty positions open per year in America. That can't be right. I hope not. Was he talking about tenure-track positions at Ivy League schools only? Well, maybe then.

Here I was worrying about my own sad field of Engineering, wherein besides the crazy cyclic hire-and-fire situation with a wavelength of three years, that American Engineers were also losing jobs to the Engineers of India, thanks to Indians per 30 years ago willing to work for one-fifth an American Engineer's pay. (Blame the Globals' accountants, not India, good for India). But the situation for Math & Phys Doctorates is far worse!and s

"I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet." ... you know who...

This is why I like Institutes for Advanced Study, because they can handle the overflow. America is a college degree mill ... we graduate more than the market can bear. C'est la vie.

Yes, I was flying again. But not British Airways. Air Canada pissed me severely off by charging me for wanting to take back to Europe a bag that I brought free of charge. Stupidly enough, the weight of my bags wasn't an issue, it was the number (is what happens if you believe it's winter in Canada and bring warm clothes). The women actually said if I squeeze the stuff in one bag and take the rest as hand baggage it would be fine. I was, like, what the fuck. Excuse my language, but there's no other way to put that shit. Guess what's going to happen? People will buy the hugest bags that one can possibly find and then the ground personnel will start complaining, etc. I mean, really, I pay $1,500 for a flight and then they charge me $50 for a 10 pounds bag. What's the world coming to?

Anyway, about your above theorem, shouldn't it depend somehow on the outcome of the discussion with yourself?